Rick Shearman
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In 2012 Rick will celebrate 25 years as a solicitor. During that time he has worked exclusively for the defence and has defended in many of the country’s biggest and most serious criminal cases.
Rick qualified then worked for seven years at one of East London’s best-known criminal firms. In 1992 he successfully defended Lady Dawn Kennedy at the Old Bailey, acquitted of perverting the course of public justice after accusing three men of rape. In 1993 he successfully represented the late Ramadan Guney (see below), who had stood £1m surety for Asil Nadir. In 1994 he moved to the West End firm of Offenbachs, later becoming a partner. In 1995, he succeeded in overturning convictions for drugs offences in the case of R v Marulanda, Ifill and others, eventually securing their acquittal at a re-trial. In 2000 he represented Graham Waddon in one of the country’s first prosecutions for internet pornography and one which established the international jurisdiction of the criminal courts in obscenity cases. In the same year he also represented an academic in the case of Atkins –v- DPP, a landmark case regarding pornography and the internet.
Rick set up Shearman Bowen & Co with Mark Bowen in May 2001. Later that year he successfully defended the former England cricketer Roland Butcher, acquitted of £4m fraud charges after a seven month trial. In 2003, he represented the lead Defendant in the case of Karagozlu and others, one of the UK’s biggest-ever confiscation cases (alleged benefit £100m plus; after a contested hearing the Court made an Order of £225,000). In 2005 he successfully defended Robert Lotts on murder charges despite only taking over the case from other solicitors on the second day of the trial. Later in 2005 Rick successfully represented a defendant in the case of R –v- Brian Wright & Others, the UK’s largest-ever conspiracy to import cocaine; he later fought a claim by Customs for a £6m confiscation order, obtaining an order for £8,700.
In 2009 Rick defended John Worboys, the London taxi driver accused of being the UK’s most prolific sex offender, taking over the case less than two months before trial. In 2009 Rick successfully overturned a £1.1m Confiscation Order in the Court of Appeal (R –v- Leeming). In 2010 Rick defended Peter Sainsbury, General Secretary of the POW Trust in a four month trial at Southwark Crown Court alleging £2m fraud.
Rick continues to advise and represent clients in a variety of serious crime and serious fraud matters with a noted specialisation in the field of criminal confiscation and proceeds of crime work. Rick’s current instructions include £13m confiscation proceedings fixed for hearing in September, 2011, and an insurance fraud involving Lloyds of London fixed for trial in January 2012.
Private Client
Rick has successfully advised and represented:
· A client investigated by City of London Police and FSA following the 2010 collapse of GFX Capital Markets;
· A company secretary investigated by the SFO in connection with a £20m advance fee fraud;
· A Zimbabwean lawyer investigated in connection with a $340m international money laundering operation;
· The CEO of a major global corporation charged with assault on a transatlantic flight;
· A trustee in bankruptcy and two Solicitors summonsed for perjury and fraud by a vexatious litigant;
· A solicitor charged with fraud against the Legal Aid Board;
· A distinguished academic and expert witness arrested for child pornography offences;
· The nephew of a Labour peer charged with serious drug offences;
· A London Fire Brigade driver charged with dangerous driving attending an emergency;
· A Company Director investigated by Revenue & Customs in a £8m diversion/duty fraud.
In all of the above cases the clients were either not prosecuted or were acquitted at or before trial.
1993: Rick (centre) outside the Old Bailey with the late Ramadan Guney, who stood £1m surety for Asil Nadir.
Previous Cases (selected):
Serious Fraud
· R –v- Sainsbury & others Southwark Crown Court: defended lead defendant in nine-handed £2m charity fraud.
· R –v- Butcher & others, Aylesbury Crown Court: defended mortgage broker charged with £28m mortgage fraud following the 2008 collapse of “the Money Machine”, a franchise of the Norwich based money centre.
· R –v- Abbas & others, Maidstone Crown Court: defended second Defendant in multi-hander diversion/VAT fraud lasting seven months.
· R –v- Roland Butcher & others , Kingston Crown Court: successfully defended client in £4m fraud trial lasting seven months.
· R –v- Kiernan & others, Southwark Crown Court: defended client in four month mortgage fraud trial.
· R –v- Orunmuyi & others , Snaresbrook Crown Court: defended lead Defendant charged with fraud and corruption centred on Government building contracts on Broadwater Farm Estate.
· R –v- Metin Ulukurt & others , Southwark Crown Court: defended client in this three month VAT fraud at Southwark Crown Court.
· R –v- Alberto dos Ramos & another, Guildford Crown Court: successfully defended insurance broker on fraud charges following collapse of Triangle Insurance.
· R –v- John Christopher & another, Snaresbrook Crown Court: defended client on tax fraud charges in prosecution brought by Inland Revenue.
· R –v- Leslie Armstrong & others, Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court: successfully defended council officer accused of corruption regarding Local Authority contracts.
Serious Crime
· R –v- John Worboys, Croydon Crown Court: defended London taxi driver accused of series of sexual assaults on passengers.
· R –v- Rowland (R –v- Brian Wright & Others): defended client charged in relation to UK’s largest ever importation of cocaine.
· R –v- Grenville Shaw, Nottingham Crown Court: defended client charged with a series of serious sexual offences against sex workers in Sheffield.
· R –v- Robert Lotts & others , Norwich Crown Court: successfully defended client charged with murder and conspiracy to murder following three month trial.
· R –v- Webber & Others, Central Criminal Court: defended client on serious charges of conspiracy to supply drugs. Note that the confiscation proceedings in this case also led to the landmark ruling in Webber –v- Webber, defining the rights of a third party in confiscation proceedings.
· R –v- Scott Elliott, Central Criminal Court: secured acquittal for client on murder/manslaughter charges.
· R –v- Guy Oprey & Others, Central Criminal Court: defended client charged with murder following shooting in the course of an armed robbery.
Appeal Court/Judicial Review
· R –v- Leeming, Court of Appeal: successfully overturned £1.1m Confiscation Order.
· R –v- Marulanda, Ifill & Others, Court of Appeal: successfully overturned conviction for conspiracy to import Class A drugs. Clients both acquitted at re-trial.
· R –v- Mark Rogers Court of Appeal: successfully overturned conviction for drugs offences in landmark case involving Asperger’s syndrome.
· Atkins –v- DPP, Divisional Court: landmark case establishing knowledge and legitimate reason defences in internet child pornography cases.
· R –v- Lewes Crown Court ex parte Nigel Weller & Co., Divisional Court: successfully overturned production orders for search and seizure of files.
Confiscation Cases
· R –v- Nicholas Griffin & others , Great Grimsby Crown Court: successfully obtained £27,000 Order in international pornography case where Crown sought Order of £2.7m.
· R –v- Jon Leeming, see above.
· R –v- Michael Downer & Others, Reading Crown Court: currently representing client facing £13m confiscation proceedings following conviction for fraud.
· R –v- Lisa Gaskin & others, Leeds Crown Court: successfully obtained Order of £16,000 after Crown sought £500,000.
· R –v- Belinda Newstead & Others, Croydon Crown Court: obtained order for £27,000 after Crown sought £2.7m.
· R –v- Anni Rowland, Woolwich Crown Court: successfully obtained £8,700 Order following contested hearing at which Crown sought Order of £6m.
· R –v- Karagozlu & Others, Woolwich Crown Court: obtained £225,000 Order in case where Crown alleged £100m benefit, following two week contested hearing.
· R –v- Huseyin Tonc & others Basildon Crown Court: successfully obtained £30,000 Order in case where Crown sought £3m.